Allen Piepenburg built his own timber frame home with his TimberKing sawmill
“I’ve been in the construction trades most of my life. Up until I retired 10 years ago, I was an architectural manager for a large home building company. Now I am nearly finished building my retirement project, my own timber frame home.
Allen’s been in the construction trades most of his life. Now he’s nearly finished building his own home. It really showcases his skills — big, open spaces, handsome timber frame, cordwood siding. And he did it himself!
Great satisfaction in literally building your home yourself
When people say they built their home, it usually means they were involved with the planning but paid someone else to build it. I’ve done that a couple of times myself. When I say I built this home, I mean I’ve literally done it myself with a little help now and then. There’s great satisfaction in that – it’s hard to put that satisfaction into words but if you’ve built things yourself you know what I mean.
Designed in his mind
I mentally designed the house quite a while ago. Three years before I retired, I bought a 3-1/2 acre farm. The house on this farm had burned down but the barn and the Quonset were in good shape. I had the location for my vision.
When I retired, my wife and I took a long international trip. While traveling, East Texas had a serious drought and there was a lot of bug-killed southern yellow pine throughout the area. They became my source for the lumber I would need. So when we returned home I bought a TimberKing sawmill.
CLICK HERE – see BUILDING PHOTOS step-by-step!
Having time to spend in the area of the farm, I found an old friend whom I had worked for years earlier. He had a lot of bug-killed pine on his 200 acres that I was welcome to take for the felling. Eight years ago this past September, I started felling and stockpiling logs. By April, had 550 logs ready for milling.
He sawed his own timbers ‘cause retail prices are way too high
I got a TimberKing as a means to an end. I wanted to build a timber frame home but if you buy timbers, you pay dearly for each one. Timbers are way overpriced – even $3,000 apiece.
Sawing THOUSANDS of board feet of lumber
I sawed thousands and thousands of board feet of southern yellow pine, eastern red cedar, oak, elm, and more. The first load I put in my solar kiln was forty-eight 12” x 12” x 20’ timbers. That was in 2015. After drying, I laid them out to match them up and decide where they’d go in the house. Then a tornado came along. It took down the barn and heavily damaged the kiln! I lost half the kiln’s wood due to weather.
I estimate that the first kiln load was 11,500 board feet of lumber. Over time, I sawed out beams, framing, siding, trim, everything including quarter-sawn red oak for the fronts of our kitchen cabinets and master vanity.
Edging with a TimberKing sawmill
Not having an edger, the sawmill had to do the final sizing of all the studs, joists, and rafters. To make edging easier, I purchased 3” x 4” x ¼” angle iron. Using J-bolts, I mounted one piece of angle iron to the bed with an edge against the cant stops. I set another piece of angle iron so it could be moved freely by the log dog. The angle iron kept the framing materials steady and perpendicular to the blade.
Cordwood siding the TimberKing way
My wife loves stone homes. I didn’t want to lay up all that stone so I put up cordwood siding instead – it looks similar to stone. I did the cordwood exterior for aesthetics – the home’s fully insulated with foam. All the cordwood is eastern red cedar and it took a lot of it to side this home. Without my TimberKing sawmill, it would have been an impractical job.
Here’s how I did it. I quartered logs lengthwise on the mill then cut the quarters into 5” long blocks and mortared them in place like you’d lay-up stone. Of course mortar doesn’t like to stick to wood so I really had to work at it. But all this has kept me busy during this crazy pandemic and that’s been very good.
Why TimberKing…and why not other mills?
I liked TimberKing’s design. Everybody mentions TimberKing’s 4-post head. I also liked that it had a stationary command post – one place where you can stand and control everything. I looked at Wood-Mizer® but you have to walk alongside as you cut and I didn’t like that. Especially because of Wood-Mizer’s ‘shin-bumper’ design: everybody complains they bump their shins on the wheel fenders as they walk alongside while sawing.
TimberKing is a fine machine, very strong. I like the way it works and I have no complaints.
They know their stuff
Everybody speaks about how helpful the folks at TimberKing are. If you have a problem, you just call them and they honestly try to help. Mike has been there forever. He and Jason are the answer men. Everybody there knows their product. I call and tell them, ‘Here’s what’s wrong, how do I fix it?’ Nine times out of 10 they’re right. They give service with no charge.
I bought this mill when I was 69. It was used when I bought it but TimberKing treats me like I bought it new. I’d love to get a new mill and if I ever do, it’ll be a TimberKing. And someday I have to go to Kansas City to see the limestone caves where they build them!”
Allen Piepenburg, TimberKing Owner, Anderson TX
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